


Untitled (River/Mal)

by rsadelle



Category: Firefly
Genre: Abandoned Work - Unfinished and Discontinued, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-12-30
Updated: 2007-12-30
Packaged: 2017-10-28 14:52:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 844
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/309038
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rsadelle/pseuds/rsadelle
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Letting River take over as the pilot of his ship makes Mal a mite uneasy at first. She's been known to take a turn or two.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Untitled (River/Mal)

Letting River take over as the pilot of his ship makes Mal a mite uneasy at first. She's been known to take a turn or two.

"Where'd you learn to fly anyhow?" he asks her one day.

She looks at him sideways. "I didn't."

It should worry him, but he figures the rest of his crew knows enough for her to pick up on.

It works, for a while, until the job calls for a close fight, and Mal ranges through the ship calling out for supplies and assigning roles. He looks down on his team--Jayne and Zoe--and decides that it's just not enough.

He strides back through his ship. "Inara!" His shout warns her, so he doesn't mind walking straight into her shuttle. Not that he minds walking straight in at any other time.

"Mal. I believe we have an arrangement that includes knocking."

"Got no time for knocking. Need you to take the wheel." He swings out of her doorway and back toward the front of his ship.

"Take the wheel?" Inara follows him down to the cockpit. "What do you mean take the wheel?"

Mal turns to face her. "I mean, take the wheel. It's time you started earning your keep." He leans closer. "I know you haven't been taking clients. No freeloaders on my boat."

"If it's the credits you're worried about, don't. I have the credits."

"It's not the credits I'm worried about. It's my ship and my crew. I need a pilot and I need River on the ground." He turns back to his pilot who's already out of her chair and coming across to him.

"You're not taking her anywhere." Simon plants himself between River and the mule.

"Oh, yes, I am." Mal tosses a last bag onto the mule. "River, get up here."

Simon shifts to keep himself between River and the mule. "No."

"Yes," and this time it comes from both Mal and River. "Your sister can take of yourself," they say together, and they turn matching glares on Simon, who's only looking at Mal.

River turns his head and places her hands on either side of his face. "You don't have to take care of me anymore, Simon."

Simon looks unhappy, but this time he doesn't try to stop her.

Mal experiences a moment of weakness and yells for Kaylee.

"Yes, Cap'n?"

"Keep the doctor busy until we get back."

Kaylee grins at him. "Yes, sir!" She grabs Simon's arm and drags him off so he can't watch them leave.

"We're going to be in close quarters," Mal says as Zoe brings them down into the town. "No more damage than it takes to get our money and get out."

"They're not going to want to pay," River adds. Mal hadn't planned to tell them that.

It takes a little convincing of the physical kind--and it helps when the other three can stand back and let River take on first one then two then three of the guards without breaking a sweat--but they get their money.

Mal calls Inara and has her fly closer to pick them up. If she's going to be his pilot, he needs to see what she can do.

She does fine, and he sets Jayne and Zoe to stowing the money and securing the mule. He goes up to the cockpit and throws himself into the copilot's chair. "Show me what you can do. Take us out of atmo."

"I'm not a pilot," Inara reminds him.

"We need a pilot," he tells her. "We don't need a Companion."

"I can bring in more money as a Companion."

"You're not bringing in anything." Mal gets up and rests on the edge of her panel. "I need a pilot, and I need River on the ground. You need to stop hiding in your shuttle, and you're calm in a tight spot." He pushes away from the helm. "Take us to Persephone."

He passes Simon on his way to the galley. The doc's too sated to manage a real glare.

In the galley, he opens a can and dumps it into a pan to warm up. The water boils faster than the food heats up, and he pours it over leaves into a pot. When it's steeped, he pours a cup for River without asking.

"I'm the Reader," she reminds him as she cups her hands around it and bends her face into the steam.

"You don't like fighting," he says. "People are always bringin' cups of tea to the womenfolk."

"But I do like fighting." She steps into his space and has to look up to hold his eyes. "They made me good at it." She reaches around him and pours him a cup of tea without looking. "I'll kill anyone who stands between our crew and a chance to live." She pushes his cup into his hand. "I'll do it gladly."

She knows what he's going to do as soon as he does, so her face is already turned up to his when he kisses her.


End file.
